The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: Cesar Chavez Day

  • César Chavez Day with YES

    César Chavez Day with YES

    by Eddie Carpenter

    In honor of César Chavez Day, the YES program hosted a volunteer event at the Potawot Community Food Garden in Arcata. It had an amazing turnout with a whopping 40 volunteers in attendance, caressed by the sunny blue skies and the refreshing Humboldt breeze.

    We were assigned tasks by being divided into five groups. I was grateful to be a part of a group that planted beds of squash. We did everything from scratch, laying out layers of black cover material across the four rows to keep the weeds from robbing the plants of their nutrients. We also covered the tops of the rows with white cloth.

    Gardening skills have practical value in my daily life. Prior to this experience, I had been a volunteer at Potawot through a program called the Intertribal Agriculture Council. Potawat’s head gardener Ed Mata gave me a handbook about gardening and I was mentored by a professional development specialist named Elaini Vargas.

    Maybe I was a little rusty on the terminology, but basic knowledge about soil health has since been ingrained into the recesses of my brain. I learned in a soils class that if you live in a mild climate, it’s estimated that it took 200 to 400 years for 1 centimeter of the soil to form. Vargas’ and Mata’s teachings directly impacted the mindset I had going into the YES serve-a-thon on César Chavez Day.

    Youth Educational Services (YES) is a collective on campus that provides students with opportunities to volunteer at local school and community sites. One of their goals is to connect hands-on service and in-class learning with awareness of the injustices and oppressions experienced by those they serve. Actions sometimes speak louder than words. Making donations and saying nice things about a cause is totally different from donating your time and bodily energy to a cause.

    According to mentalhealth.org, helping others can possibly help make you happier as a person. Through volunteering, I was able to make temporary connections through teamwork and group communication. This gave me a sense of community and made me feel like I belonged to a noble cause.

    If you want to see change in your self-esteem, you might want to consider doing good deeds, so we can manifest the world into a better place. Indeed, an outward reflection of finding happiness can in turn make you a happy person.

  • Community potluck for Humboldt State students

    Community potluck for Humboldt State students

    A potluck was held in the D Street Community Center on April 1. The theme of the event was for the Arcata community to bring Latin American food in honor of Cesar Chavez Day.

    This is the fourth community potluck that the community has held for Humboldt State University students and the Arcata community. Pauli Bachemin is one of the event organizers.

    “The purpose of holding this event is to not only have students meet with the community,” Bachemin said. “I want [students] to be able to network with city officials from the community.”

    There were various city officials who were present at the potluck, including Karen Diemer, the city manager of Arcata.

    “We want students to know that they are a part of the community,” Diemer said. “I was a former student of HSU, and the support I felt from the community made me want to stay in Arcata. I hope that students today will feel the same way.”

    Isabel Quintaro is an HSU student who praised the university’s efforts.

    “With the issue that has been going on lately, I think that the city has been doing a great job in listening to student’s voices,” Quintaro said.

    Nacirema Johnson is another HSU student.

    “With the city officials being present in this event, it shows that there is [a] genuine interest with what is going on with students,” Johnson said.

    The food wasn’t the only thing that the event gave out, there was a “free stuff” table where students could pick up donated items.

    “I really appreciate the help that the community gives with the free stuff they give out,” Kelly Garcia, a first-year HSU student, said.

    While help is given from the community event, some have expressed how they truly felt about how the community has dealt with ongoing problems in the community.

    Tina Sampay is a former student of HSU. She majored in critical race, gender and sexuality studies.

    “It is important events like these are happening, but you can’t cover up the pain with fake progress,” Sampay said.

    With the ongoing issues that affect HSU, the D Street Community Center has been making an effort by holding events for students like the community potluck.

    Anne Hartline attended the event. She is a professor at HSU teaching English 124, and attended the event to support students.

    “This event is a way for building a community,” Hartline said. “It’s important for students to be a part of the community.”

    This article was changed from its original version on at 11:08 a.m. on April 5, 2018.